The present invention relates to jewelry (including keepsake items), and more particularly to such items made of human bone. One embodiment discloses jewelry made of pulverized and recombined primary human teeth, or baby teeth. The baby tooth is partially or fully pulverized and bonded with a chemical bonding agent in a mold or pre-formed frame to create designs personalized to the family members. In another embodiment, the hollow interior crown of the deciduous tooth is filled with a solidifying bonding agent, and the tooth shaped to form a solid “tooth stone” that can be mounted in a metal jewelry object as a gemstone would normally be mounted.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of marketing the Deciduous Teeth Matrix Jewelry in a way that can be used to raise funds for charitable organizations and other groups. The novelty of the manufacturing process for the product and required exchange of the biological materials raises new marketing obstacles and constraints which the present invention advantageously solves.
One embodiment discloses jewelry made of pulverized and recombined primary human teeth, or baby teeth. When a parent saves the baby teeth of his/her children, the teeth would be partially or fully pulverized and bonded with a chemical bonding agent in a mold or pre-formed frame to create designs personalized to the family members. In another embodiment disclosed herein, processing improvements are disclosed, including an embodiment in which the hollow interior crown of the deciduous teeth is filled with a solidifying bonding agent, and the tooth shaped to form a solid “tooth matrix” that can be mounted in a metal jewelry article as a gemstone would normally be mounted.
Particular to the present invention, an embodiment is disclosed for a method of raising funds for an organization, in which the products and processes disclosed in the above identified related patent and application are used to provide a new method of raising funds for an organization.
Jewelry made from the bones and teeth of animals has been known and made and worn in early civilizations. From shark teeth to bear claws, man has adorned his body with animal tissue for both necessity and vanity since before written history. Even today, shark teeth are a popular necklace. It is believed the Vikings may have made jewelry from human teeth. It has also been known to string teeth together for attachment to a necklace. It has also been known in Costa Rica and Chile to set the solid deciduous dentition pieces in gold or silver, to make a necklace or earring.
What has not known to have been done is to manufacture jewelry from processed human deciduous dentition, as in the manner disclosed. The hardest thing in the human body is the enamel on the teeth. Like all mammals, humans have primary teeth and permanent teeth. Teeth begin being formed before birth.
Human teeth are very hard in order to withstand the grinding forces associated with chewing and crunching food. The hard material of the tooth is composed of calcium, phosphorus and other mineral salts. The material in the majority of the tooth is called dentine. The hard, shiny exterior layer is the enamel.
Teeth have two basic parts; a root to anchor the tooth to the jaw and a crown above the gum line. The section where the crown meets the root is called the neck. The root is covered with a hard material called cementum. At the center of each tooth is an area with nerves, arteries and veins called the dental pulp.
Humans have four different types of teeth, each with a different function: Incisors for cutting off bites of food; cuspids (with long sharp points) for tearing food; bicuspids (with two points) to tear and crush food; and molars with large, relatively flat surfaces to crush and grind food.
The four types of teeth together allow humans to be omnivores (eating both meat and vegetables). Most animals have more specialized teeth. Carnivorous (meat eating) animals have long sharp tearing teeth. Grazing animals, like cows and horses, have large flat teeth for grinding grass and other vegetation. Deciduous dentition is also known as the primary, baby, milk, or lacteal dentition.
The term deciduous means “to fall off.” Although deciduous teeth are in time replaced by the succedaneous, or permanent, teeth, they are very important to the proper alignment, spacing and occlusion of the permanent teeth. The deciduous incisor teeth are functional in the mouth for approximately five years, while the deciduous molars are functional for approximately nine years. They therefore have considerable functional significance. The progressive loss of deciduous teeth are considered an important milestone in the developmental phase of childhood.
The events are often marked by celebration, traditions and superstitions around the world. In the United States, tradition is based on tales of the Tooth Fairy. In Australia, mothers are once believed to have crushed their children's baby teeth and eaten the powder.
In some parts of the world, a child's baby tooth was placed in nests where rats or snakes were known to live because people believed evil witches disliked those animals and wouldn't go near them. In many parts of the world, parents placed their children's teeth in mouse nests. They thought that would result in a new tooth growing in the lost tooth's place, just as a mouse's lost teeth somehow re-grew.
In other parts of the world, mothers hid their children's teeth from animals because they believed if an animal found the tooth, a tooth like that animal's would grow in the mouth of the child. In parts of England, mothers at one time burned their children's baby teeth so that evil witches couldn't get their hands on them and gain control of the children.
In the United States and elsewhere, it is common for parents to save, at least for a while, the exfoliated baby teeth of their children as a keepsake of their childhood and development. The typical storage means is a small envelope, or decorative box. One disadvantage of this method of saving deciduous teeth is that the deciduous teeth are biologically contaminated. Another disadvantage of this method is that a small box filled with tiny teeth isn't significant as a keepsake, other than the origin of the teeth themselves.
Another disadvantage of storing deciduous teeth is that the collective individual teeth are easily lost or mixed up with the teeth of other children. Another disadvantage of storing deciduous teeth is their natural geometry combined with bloodstains lacks the display appeal of photographs, gifts, letters, and other memorabilia.
Deciduous teeth are also very different from adult teeth in size, shape, number, and hardness. Each of these differences render the deciduous teeth far more difficult to work with in comparison to gem stones or adult teeth. In particular deciduous teeth cannot be readily shaped or mounted in their native state without crumbling.
A primary problem is that the deciduous teeth are contaminated with bloodstains and residual pulp that are difficult to remove. A significant difficulty in the process of shaping exfoliated deciduous teeth into jewelry is that they have resorbed roots, leaving only a thin crown with a hollow interior space. This renders the deciduous teeth extremely brittle and not shapable with standard lapidary and machining techniques. Further, machining or hand shaping to a depth past the exterior wall exposes the hollow interior, thereby ruining the aesthetic appearance of the article.
Another difficulty in modifying exfoliated deciduous teeth into jewelry or keepsakes is that the disinfecting process can make the teeth even more brittle, and subject to fracture.
Another difficulty in modifying exfoliated deciduous teeth into jewelry or keepsakes is that they often contain thin fractures that cause the teeth to fracture when handled, and may break if dropped even a few inches onto a hard surface. Besides tending to cause the teeth to fracture when handled, the fracture lines will absorb the dye from a conventional lapidary doping wax used to hold the tiny teeth, ruining the appearance of the specimen.
Another difficulty in modifying exfoliated deciduous teeth into jewelry is their very small size, which makes them extremely difficult to handle for cleaning or machining.
Another difficulty in modifying exfoliated deciduous teeth into jewelry is that the dentition varies significantly with gender, race, nutrition, and other factors, such that individual dentition will have varying machinability properties.
Regarding the present invention, it is known to raise funds for organizations by having the organization send solicitations that are directed to a parent or other adult caretaker of a child (buyer). The best known of these is for school pictures. The organization may provide a printed solicitation to children to deliver to the buyer. The buyer chooses a picture or group of pictures they would like, and marks the selection on the solicitation and returns it with a check or other authorization for purchase. The photography company then takes pictures of the children at the school and provides the photographs to the buyers as ordered. The school will then receive a percentage of the sale made to the buyer. Similar events are conducted for sports teams for children participating in sports.
There are several disadvantages to this method. A first disadvantage is that the process is as old as rocks, and thus provides little excitement among buyers. Another disadvantage is that the vast majority of parents and caretakers now have their own digital camera, including in their phone, making it harder for parents to justify buying them when they can take as many as they want for free. Another disadvantage is that many parents and caretakers also have photograph manipulation software, such as Photoshop®, allowing them to create more special effects for free than the photographer can even offer. Another disadvantage is that kids get sick, and might miss photo-day, which is not a problem when taking them at home. Another disadvantage is that sometimes kids cry, or make a funny face or just frown. A great many parents know what this can be like. Once again, at home, the parent or caretaker can just keep snapping more pictures and keep the several that they like best.
Another disadvantage, is that while a professional photographer will be assigned to take the photographs, that requires a commitment of collective travel and time at the location on the scheduled day. With the price pressure created by the proliferation of home digital cameras, this method of raising funds relies heavily on volume for effectiveness. This renders this option impractical for small organizations.
Other well-known methods of raising funds for organizations that involves children include candy sales, car washes, and cookie sales. A primary disadvantage of this method is that, while picture day at school might involve wearing an undesirable outfit or an unwanted haircut, these other methods are distinguished in that they require at least some element of child labor. Another disadvantage is that many kids just don't want to do this. Another disadvantage is that they also require the interaction of the children with “stranger dangers” who are the prospective buyers. Allowing the children to walk unescorted door-to-door has become completely unacceptable for most parents.
As a result, another disadvantage is that the parent or other adult caretaker has to be unwillingly involved. This can mean hours of time in bad weather in an undesirable neighborhood. Another disadvantage is the alternative of setting up a small table in front of a store and making the customers feel uncomfortable when walking past the small child in the cute uniform, again, under parental supervision. Another disadvantage is the option of the parent buying up far more than a desired share of the cookies themselves, and filling the shelves at home in hopes that the family members will eat them over the following several months before they go stale. Since these are not granola bars, eating a great many of them is not healthy.
Another disadvantage is that in desperation of avoiding the other alternatives, parents and caretakers offer them to co-workers, where they will be obligated to buy them from all of the other co-workers if they have a shred of decency. Still, this is often preferable to spending hours trying to supervise the sale of as many cookie boxes as possible, with the slim hope that the excited child will be rewarded with a cheap token of appreciation from the organization. Another disadvantage is that margins per box are relatively small, requiring high volumes of sales to raise sufficient funds.
The present invention provides a method that overcomes the disadvantages of the other traditional methods outlined above. First, despite centuries of fund raising activities, it offers a method and product that is entirely new, and never before offered for this purpose, thus generating interest associated with its novelty. Second, it is associated with a physical milestone in life, which other fund raising opportunities do not do. Third, it provides a means of making a beautiful article out of something that a great many parents are already saving, in a rather unsightly and unusable form. Fourth, it does not require preparation or attendance of the child. Fifth, it does not involve any child labor. Sixth, it does not require any parental participation. Seventh, it provides a jewelry buying opportunity for parents. Eighth, it provides a significantly larger margin per sale than does photography or cookie and candy sales. Ninth, it does not rely on volume sales, so it is a viable option for small organizations. Tenth, it does not compete with, nor interfere with, traditional, respected methods of fund raising, allowing organizations to continue those methods, while adding a new and interesting fund raising resource.
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, embodiments of the present invention are disclosed.